The Girl With The Emerald City
by lovelystarz
Summary: Tippetarius Oswin was not what she seemed. She was anything but normal as her true self was Ozma, Queen of Oz and Fairy Godmother to the saviour. But she had no memories of her real life, she had no idea that the people she held dearest were right in front of her. But strange dreams, a tragic loss and a very special boy will help Ozma to awaken and help break the curse...
1. Chapter 1

**_Once upon a time in the kingdom of Oz, a daughter was born to two very special people; the human King Pastoria of Oz and the fairy Queen Lurline. The newborn princess was given the name Ozma and from the moment of her birth, she was destined to grow up to become the future sovereign of Oz and forever rule as their immortal queen. Whilst the majority of Oz rejoiced at the birth of the little princess, not all welcomed the birth of their future queen and the happiness within the kingdom over Ozma's birth was not to last. On the evening of her first birthday, Ozma was snatched from the Royal Palace of Oz and disappeared into the night without a trace, never to be seen again…_**

 ** _But Ozma was not as lost as many believed and she was not dead as some thought, Ozma was alive and grew up the prisoner of an evil witch called Mombai. But Ozma was not raised as her true self but under the guise of the boy slave Tippetarius. Eventually Ozma was freed from Mombai's capture and learned of her true self but once again she disappeared into the night with no one knowing where she had gone. All hope of Ozma ever returning to Oz was lost until the lost princess finally returned home and took her place as the rightful heir of Oz and ascended the throne as Queen, 22 years after she first disappeared. But Ozma was not everything that she seemed and was destined to have a happily ever after especially with the dark secrets that she kept, secrets that were tied to her past, present and future._**

* * *

 _The midnight oil was burning but not all in the Kingdom of Oz were sleeping, most especially it's queen. Ozma had retired to her private chambers a couple of hours ago but now she was on the move, doing her upmost to avoid being seen. It was easier said than done as within the last few weeks the Royal Palace had become even more heavily guarded after the break in. Ozma couldn't help but look uneasily over her shoulder, even though she knew that she was safe within the walls of her home, she could not afford to have anyone know where she was currently going. Ozma was exhausted beyond compare, her day had been incredibly long filled with rather long and stuffy meetings but she couldn't not sleep like most of Oz was currently doing, there was still work that needed to be done and what work she needed to do had to be conducted under the upmost secrecy. Navigating herself through the palace hallways, being careful to avoid the guards was a hard but not impossible task for Ozma as she knew the entire palace as well as she knew herself. It did not take Ozma too long to reach the deeper levels of the palace, venturing down the passages that most within Oz were forbidden to know about, let wonder through. These parts of the palace were a stark contrast from the grandeur of the rest of the palace, there were no fine tapestries or sculptures, nothing of the kind. Just mirrored glass that went from the ground, all the way up to the ceiling and enough lighting to guide yourself down the passages that seemed to go on forever. But there was eventually an end and after walking down the forbidden passaged for long enough Ozma reached a door. It was large green door, like most here in the palace but this door was like no other door in Oz. This door was different, it was a dark green colour and bore no marking on it in the slightest and seemed to give off a menacing aura. This door was never meant to be opened, it was always supposed to stay closed but tonight Ozma would open it. Extending her left hand, Ozma allowed her finger tips to touch the door and quietly murmured an incantation to herself and the door swung open. Despite knowing that she had to do this, Ozma was rather hesitant to cross the threshold of the door and enter the place she called the in-between land. But Ozma knew she had to do this, not just for her sake but the whole of Oz._

 _Taking a deep breath Ozma walked through the door and no longer was she in the Royal Palace but in a room that was like none of other. It was a ballroom or what used to be some kind of ballroom but it was in ruins, dark and cold with a chilling aura that hung in the air. Yet Ozma could still make out the worn out intricate ceiling design and the faded patterns on the wall that seemed like they were only a day or so away from vanishing forever. There were only three things that were actually in this room which looked like they didn't belong, one of them was this glass pointed pillar that stood in the middle of the room and then there were the two doors. One of them had been the door that Ozma had come through as from where she stood now, the door was emerald green in colour and had the emblem of Oz on it, to show her that this door was the one she needed to take to come home. The other door was a rather plan looking wooden door which no special features. For now, it was only Ozma here as her guests had not yet arrived. The last time Ozma had been in this room was when she had made the decision to return to Oz and accept her role as queen, it seemed like only yesterday but really it was a lifetime ago, centuries really. Ozma had been a different person back then, she was still going by the name_ _Tippetarius_ _but once she had stepped through that green door she had stopped being 'Tip' and went back to her true self – Princess Ozma of Oz, the long lost heir to the kingdom of Oz._

 _"Ozma?"_

 _That voice. Ozma would recognise it in a heartbeat and she turned to see that her guests had finally arrived. The two of them were a sight for very sore eyes and a warm smile quickly graced Ozma's face, despite the grim circumstances that brought them all together, she was still rather happy to see them. There was the man who Ozma knew as Prince Charming, a rather handsome man with broad shoulders, short blonde hair and gentle yet proud blue eyes that seemed to reflect his status as a prince of one of the many kingdoms in the land of Mist Haven. Then there was the woman who stood by his side; a woman of wonderful refinement and had the gentlest heart of anyone Ozma knew; Princess Snow White. She was indeed a most gracious beauty, arguably the fairest in all the lands with alabaster white skin, hair as black as the raven and perfect red lips that would shame the reddest of red roses. It had been a while since Ozma had seen Snow White and her Prince Charming, since their long awaited nuptials but judging by the subtle curve of Snow's stomach, Ozma could see they would be blessed with the arrival of a child in a few months._

 _"Snow White and her Prince Charming… Look at you dear princess! Everything grown up and about to bring new life into this world, your mother and father would be so proud if they could see the woman that you have become. I, for one am very proud of you Snow White." Ozma greeted with a warm smile before making her way across the room to embrace Snow White in a loving hug._

 _"As always it is good to see you Ozma, although I'm not sure where we are…" Snow White replied in an equally warm manner as the two old friends pulled out of their embrace._

 _"Nowhere. Anywhere, everywhere… I suppose it all depends on how you want to look it at my dear. This room doesn't exist on any map as technically we are outside time and space, so we'll be safe here to talk freely as right now the three of us cannot afford to be seen with each other at the moment. With everything that is going on at the moment, we cannot risk angering Regina any further. The danger that she poses to all of us means that we must proceed carefully, even now I cannot risk leaving Oz in case she does something. I must protect my kingdom at all costs and my power is strong here in Oz." Ozma explained with a small smile as whilst she was happy to see her friends, this was no happy reunion as there was dark and dangerous times hovering on the horizon for them all. There was a great danger coming towards them which is why they were meeting here in secret._

 _"We understand Queen Ozma and we thank you for agreeing to see us both despite the late hour. Snow tells me that you are her eldest friend and always willing to help those in need." Charming greeted and Ozma let out a weak chuckle, firstly because Charming had referred to her as being one of Snow oldest friends which was certainly true. Despite the fact Snow White physically appeared to be older than Ozma, that was certainly not the case. Ozma was a lot older than she appeared and a lot older than Snow White. It came with being an immortal human-fairy queen. The other thing that made Ozma laugh was watching Charming bow towards her as a mark of respect which was totally unnecessary. Ozma tried to avoid the need for formalities of any kind, bowing and curtsying were something she did not like along with being addressed as Queen Ozma, sure she was Queen of Oz but nobody inside of Oz called her as such. In Oz she was known simply and affectionately as Princess Ozma._

 _"Sweet prince, have we not discussed these whole formalities issue many times before? Whilst I appreciate the show of respect towards me as sovereign of Oz there is no need for any of this bowing or curtseying nonsense! I especially wouldn't want you to kneel before me, I would only except such a thing on a formal occasion and this is not one of them. You are so much more to me than just a visiting royal, so please act freely. I only put up with this formalities protocol because I have to, not because I enjoy it. Just like Snow, I consider you to be a friend and I would like to be_ _treated like a normal friend regardless of all of this." Ozma scolded in a gentle tone of voice as she motioned to herself, in particular the circlet crown adorning her head and the elegant gown she was wearing, all symbols of her royal status._

 _"We need your help Ozma."_

 _"What can I do Snow White?"_

 _"It's about the threat that the Queen made on the day of our wedding, it's been bothering me ever since and so we went to see Rumplestiltskin to get some answers and it's worse than we ever could have expected. The Dark One says that Regina's planning to cast a curse, a powerful curse that will take us all to a place where time will be stopped and we'll all be trapped for eternity. It'll be some kind of prison for us all and there will be no happy ending for any of us. He says everything we love will be taken from us. There's apparently nothing we can do to stop this curse but Rumplestiltskin says that the baby is the one that can save us all. We have to get the baby to safety and according to Rumplestiltskin, on her twenty-eighth birthday she'll find us and rescue us all." Snow White explained and Ozma felt her stomach drop to the floor, she felt sick and at a total loss. This was a nightmare; this didn't bode well for any of them at all. Ozma's knowledge of dark magic and curses was better than most but still limited, however she knew if this curse was as powerful as the Dark One said it was, it had the possibility to destroy everything and was not limited to Mist Haven. It would hit Oz as well. Ozma couldn't be certain of it but she had this feeling in her heart told her that it would be coming to Oz as well. Regina was coming for the happy endings in Oz._

 _"Her? The baby is a girl?" Ozma asked after a moment as her mind tried to process all this information but the one thing that stood out was how Snow White had addressed her unborn child._

 _"Yes, Emma…" Snow White replied with a watery smile as she stepped forward and took one of Ozma's hands and placed it over her stomach. It didn't take long for Ozma to feel this small little kick. It was tiny but so surreal and Ozma was certain that she was on the edge of tears as it was amazing to feel this unborn child kick. Having a baby was something that Ozma was most likely never going to experience as she had plenty of children already, well in a sense as all the inhabitants of Oz were like her children._

 _"What can I do? If Rumplestiltskin has the ability to see the future and if he says that this curse Regina has planned for us is going to happen then it will come to pass. My path has only crossed with the Dark One a few times but even I know what he is capable of. If you're about to ask me to stop this curse than I'm afraid that I can't help you as I don't have that kind of power. The kind of magic needed to create a curse like one Regina is planning on unleashing requires a sacrifice of some kind and a spell like that leaves a mark on you. The amount of darkness needed to cast the curse is immense and even Regina will have to pay some kind of price. The kind of power needed to stop Regina from casting that curse is not something I have, the magic I have wouldn't be nearly enough to stop the curse." Ozma grimly noted._

 _"_ _We have a plan in motion to send Snow away before the baby is born, to another land where they'll both be safe if Regina succeeds in casting this curse. But there has to be another way Ozma and we thought if there was any other way to stop this curse from happening then you might know of a way. We've heard things about your past, how you've travelled to various other lands and have experience in dealing with this type of sorcery and we thought maybe you knew something that could help us. Trying to prevent this curse from happening may be a lost cause but we have to try." Charming stated and Ozma couldn't help but grimace at the reference to her past as it was a lot more complicated than most people thought and it wasn't the stuff made of dreams. It was the stuff of nightmares and Ozma had done a lot of things she wasn't proud of. But her past could help. Something Charming had said had struck a cord with Ozma, it made her think back to a time in her past where she had spent a considerable time with a witch who frequently used dark magic and numerous enchantment along with the occasional curse; Mombai. It had been this witch who had kidnapped Ozma as a child and even though Mombai was long gone, Ozma had something in her possession that had belonged to Mombai that could help them. She had Mombai's spell book._

 _"Of course and I may have something that can help, I can't guarantee that it'll save us but I will do whatever I can to help. This curse will affect us all and even though I may not have the power to stop the curse myself… If I cannot save us all then I will do everything I can to protect Snow and your daughter._ _My kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with yours and on my life, I will protect the young princess as if she was one of my own."_

 _"It looks like Emma has got herself a Fairy Godmother."_

* * *

Never before had the morning sun looked so lonely. Tippetarius Oswin sighed to herself as she looked up towards the sky, recently the weather had been rather miserable and it didn't seem like that was going to change anytime soon. The weather seemed to match Tippetarius' mood – or Tip as she preferred to go by given her lengthy first name. This morning Tip had woken up feeling downright awful, she felt inherently sad and she didn't really understand why but yet there was this heavy feeling that seemed to be weighing down on her heart. Something was very wrong, Tip just didn't know what it was. Maybe it was because she didn't get much sleep last night, Tip had spent the majority of night tossing and turning before finally falling asleep around the 4am region. But then she had this dream, however it seemed too real to be a dream and yet for some reason the more Tip tried to think about this bizarre dream of hers, the less she seemed to remember of it. All she could really remember was how she had felt and there had been a wave of different emotions; happiness, joy but then a lot of fear and terror. Given all those emotions, Tip figured that it was for the best that she probably didn't remember this weird dream of hers. Maybe she would ask Dr. Hooper about it later if her paths crossed with him at some point today, Archie Hopper was the town psychiatrist and if anyone would know anything about weird dreams than it would most likely be Archie. However, that would have to wait until later as right now Tip had to go to work in a sense, she had been hovering around for so long that she was going to be late if she kept this up.

Taking a deep breath Tip looked at the great big white house that stood before her, The Mayor's house was the biggest house on Miffin Street and apparently it had been at the centre of some very interesting developments here in Storybrooke. In the last couple of days, this quaint little town in Maine had been shaken up by a visitor who was brought to town by a very special little boy; Henry Mills. He was a child who Tip knew very well as she spent a great deal of her time with him as she was pretty much his nanny. Tip had been with Henry for as long as she could remember and he was her favourite person in the world, just as curious as a kitten and always asking a million questions. She hadn't seen Henry in a couple of days and Tip was very much looking forward to catching up with him. Making her way up the path, Tip walked to the front door and let herself into the Mills house, crossing over the threshold and making her way into the foyer. The house was quiet which wasn't a surprise as it was only the Mayor and Henry who lived here and it was quite a big house for just two people. As always, the house looked like it came out of the pages of some glossy magazine. Looking around Tip couldn't spot Henry or his mother anywhere and as she glanced at her wristwatch that sat on the inside of her left wrist, she saw that she didn't have time to go looking for either of them. If she wasn't careful and hurried things up than Henry was going to be late for school and they couldn't have that.

"Hey it's Tip! Henry we have to get a move on…" Tip called out, knowing full well that Henry would be able to hear her no matter where he was in the house. The Mills house was one of those places you could hear everything if you concentrated hard enough. Now that Tip had let the entire house know that she was here, all she had to do was wait and soon enough came the thunderous sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs. Tip looked up in amusement to see Henry all but flying down the stairs, all ready for school with his uniform on and his backpack along with that story book of his that he had developed a recent attachment to. Tip knew she should have admonished Henry for running down the stairs as he could have tripped and hurt himself but he was so darn cute and it pleased her that at least somebody was happy to see her.

"Morning Tip!" Henry warmly greeted, seemingly so full of sunshine today as he came rushing over to Tip, coming to a stop just short of crashing into her. Tip couldn't help but grin as she reached out and ruffled Henry's dark hair in an affectionate manner, she hadn't realised until she had seen the young boy that she had missed him rather terribly over the last couple of day. It shouldn't have surprised Tip given that she had known Henry for what seemed like forever, he was a huge part of her life and it was only a very rare occasions that she didn't see him every day. Such as the last two days, Tip had taken two days off to deal with some personal stuff that she had been putting off for a long while and finally needed to deal with it. So for Tip, of course she was going to miss Henry despite a short separation. She spent more time with him than his own mother.

"Hello bud." Tip replied with smile as it seemed that Henry was in a very cheerful mood today and for her, that was a sight for rather sore eyes. As of late, Henry hadn't been himself… Well he was Henry but he wasn't the goofy and fun kid that Tip loved and adored, He had been dealing with a lot of issues surrounding his relationship with his adoptive mother Regina and his birth mother who had given him up for adoption, that coupled with increasing feelings of loneliness had resulted in Henry becoming rather withdrawn. Tip couldn't remember the last time she had seen Henry so excited to go to school, clearly something good had happened in the last few days to improve his mood.

"What's with the sunglasses? Are you hungover Tippetarius?" Henry questioned, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly at Tip as he looked at the dark sunglasses that were covering her eyes. Tip couldn't help but blanche at the casual use of her dreaded first name, she always tried to avoid it like plague as she thought it didn't suit her in the slightest. Tippetarius Oswin sounded like a boy's name and Tip didn't believe that her full name suited her in the slightest. It's why she tended to go by Tip, whilst it probably wasn't the nicest name either it was certainly an improvement on Tippetarius. Not many people here in Storybrooke called Tip by her full name, most called her Tip whilst many others just called her Miss Oswin. There was only two people who always called her Tippetarius and that was the Mayor and the Sheriff. Then there was Henry who occasionally called Tip by her first name but he was generally trying to be funny when he did that.

"I wish, I'm just tired Henry." Tip replied with a small scoff as she went about ushering Henry towards the front door in a timely manner as they had places to be going. "

"Mom, Tip's here! We're leaving!" Henry called out but he didn't exactly wait for a response and all Tip could do was follow his lead. She wasn't complaining though as usually it did take some time to get Henry out the front door but today he was straight out that front door without any hesitation. He was clearly in quite a rush to leave the house. Henry had gotten a little bit of a head start over Tip but given the obvious height differences, it only took a few steps on her part for her to catch up to the young Mr Mills.

"Um, Henry…" Tip began holding out her hand for Henry to take and she almost laughed when Henry gave her a look of disgust, he seemed to be repulsed by the sight of Tip holding out her hand towards him. Almost as if there was something wrong with her hand but the last time Tip checked, it wasn't green and scaly. It was soft and smelt of lemon because of the cream that Tip used.

"I am not a baby anymore Tip, I don't need to hold your hand to cross the street!"

"Have you ever thought that maybe I just want to hold your hand?" Tip retorted with an amused smile as she continued to hold out her hand towards Henry, even waving it around in an exaggerated manner in an effort to get Henry to concede. This whole thing was pretty much payback for Henry calling her Tippetarius. Just because Tip was the elder of the two of them, it didn't mean that she was above messing with Henry just a little bit. She was only twenty-three and still a child at heart.

"You're so weird Tip." Henry announced with a big dramatic sigh before rather reluctantly taking a hold of Tip's hand which just caused her to grin further. She knew that she would win as Henry couldn't refuse her, it was easier to go alone with Tip than to go against her.

"So do I have to ask you about this whole biological mother thing or do I have to wait for you to bring it up? Stealing Ms. Blanchard's credit card and running off to Boston to find your biological mother? That isn't you Henry. I was quite surprised when the Sheriff told me what you've been getting up to in the last couple of days." Tip questioned, not beating around the bush as she wanted to hear what on earth had been happening in the last few days from the horse's mouth or rather the young boy's mouth. Henry Mills was at the centre of this little storm and Tip was rather intrigued to find out how one ten year old boy had almost turned this entire town upside down. He had certainly turned his mother's world upside down as according to the trusty Sheriff Graham. Regina was still going bananas over Henry's biological mother being here in town.

"Tip…" Henry began awkwardly looking around in a rather uncomfortable manner as he knew that he was in some kind of trouble with her. Tip herself had almost blown a gasket when she had heard what had happened but it was more out of concern than out of anger.

"If you were going to still someone's credit card Henry, I would have rather you stolen mine than Mary Margaret's." Tip idly quipped as her and Henry continued to walk in the direction towards Storybrooke Elementary. Tip was trying to make an effort to lighten the air so that Henry would feel a bit more comfortable in opening up to her about what happened.

"You're not mad?" Henry asked in mild surprise and Tip just shook her head, it was way too early in the morning for her to remotely lose her temper over anything. Plus, getting angry wasn't Tip's style, it took a lot to get her blood boiling.

"Like I said, I would have preferred if you had taken my credit card but the most important thing to me is that you are home safe and sound but an explanation would be nice Henry."

"She doesn't love me, my mom I mean… She never has done Tip; I know she pretends to love me so nobody will know the truth but she doesn't love me. She's not what she seems, my mom is pretending for everyone else's sake but really she's this evil witch! So I thought that I would go find my real mom, the only person who's ever cared about me." Henry explained and Tip's heart broke at what the little boy beside her was saying as it seemed like Henry really believed what he was telling her. The idea of believing his own mother didn't love him was heart-breaking and Tip felt like she was on the verge of tears. She never that Henry had been having a hard time, for the last few weeks she had noticed that he had been acting a little odd and every time Tip had asked Henry what was bothering him, he always denied something was wrong. Now Tip could see that this was what was bothering him, Henry had been struggling with all these abandonment issues and she hadn't been able to see it in time. Tip knew that Henry had been feeling a little lonely, he didn't really have many friends his age and it didn't help that Regina was shipping him off to have sessions with Archie. But she had no idea things were this bad.

"Oh Henry, why did you talk to me about any of this? I knew something was wrong since you hadn't been smiling as of late… I know that I'm not cool and a bit of a dork but I once told you that if you ever wanted a friend, then I would be your friend no matter what. I thought you knew that Henry, I thought you knew that you could always come to me if you needed to talk." Tip explained in a soft tone of voice as her and Henry approached a cross walk.

"I know that Tip. But I know that you don't know much about where you come from and I didn't want to upset you by talking about my mom when you don't know who your parents were. I didn't want to bother you Tip…" Henry weakly stated and Tip couldn't believe what she was hearing. This ten year old kid was going around stealing credits cards, tracking down his birth mother whilst trying to protect her because he didn't want to bring up her own abandonment issues. Tip was certain that she had never been so proud of Henry in the whole of his life. Her own personal hero!

"You can always talk to me about anything silly, it doesn't matter what the subject is. It doesn't matter whether it's about the whole parents thing or this curse of yours Henry. I'm always willing to listen if you need me." Tip stated in a friendly manner, giving Henry's hand a gentle squeeze as she briefly mentioned this curse of his. A few weeks ago Henry had become somewhat obsessed with fairy tales, he was convinced that everyone here in Storybrooke were the real life characters that they all knew from all those stories. But there was this curse that had been cast upon them all by an evil witch, that took away their memories and had brought them from their world to this world. It was very interesting, Tip had to admit that and it was certainly a new spin on an old story. Everyone in town was in this story/theory of Henry's including Tip herself, she was apparently Princess Ozma, Queen of Oz and Fairy Godmother to this so-called saviour who would one day come and break this curse.

"If I told you Tip, you probably would have tried to stop me from going to find Emma." Henry couldn't help but point out and Tip sighed in agreement as the young Mr. Mills as he had her there. Without a doubt there was no way she would have let Henry leave Storybrooke alone and travel all the way to Boston to track down his birth mother. There was however a small chance that Tip would have gone with Henry had he asked her, if she knew how much grief the infamous Emma Swan would cause the Mayor. Tip was yet to meet Henry's birth mother but she already liked the woman based on what she was hearing about her no nonsense attitude towards the Mayor. No one in Storybrooke was brave enough to stand up to the Mayor.

"Not probably, almost certainly." Tip corrected, choosing to keep quiet about the possibility of her coming with Henry had he told her. She didn't want to give Henry any ideas given he had certainly had an interesting couple of days without her making things worse. "But I suppose you already knew that?"

"Pretty much Tip."

"So that mom of yours? Emma? Nice name, I could swear that I know someone called Emma. I can't remember where from but I know the name from somewhere, she was somebody who meant a lot to me…" Tip couldn't help but note and she tried to search her memory from where she knew the name Emma from but it was coming up blank. There was nobody here in town who was called Emma, Tip was certain of that as she pretty much knew everyone in Storybrooke. But she definitely knew someone called Emma, from a long time ago but Tip just couldn't place it. This was going to bother Tip until she figured it out. But Henry on the other hand? Looked mighty pleased with himself over this new development. "Now what is so funny Little One? You look like the cat who ate the cream."

"You'll see."


	2. Chapter 2

Something was changing within Storybrooke, Tip couldn't exactly put her finger on what was going on but things were different now, there was in the air that seemed to rejuvenate this small town. It was no longer a sleepy little town in Maine, for the first time ever it seemed like Storybrooke was finally waking up. It was kind of ironic for Tip as she was a bit of a chronic insomniac but for her, it seemed like this town that she called home had been in some kind of rut for a very long time and now there was this new lease of life. This new change was making Tippetarius' days longer and perhaps even stranger as the last thing she had been expecting when she woke up this morning was to be dragged around in the woods by a ten year old Henry. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on but Henry had said that it was pretty important, something about some man needing their help. There was man who had been in a coma at the hospital and he had woken up and somehow managed to disappear. It had something to do with this curse of his and if they succeeded today then they would be one step closer to breaking the curse and everyone would be free. Tip was certain that Henry had explained the purpose of this mission to her at some point but it had obviously went through one ear and out the other, which she could only blame on her tiredness. Lately Tip was being plagued with some bizarre bout of insomnia, for hours upon hours she wouldn't be able to sleep and then on the instance she managed to get some sleep, the dreams she had were unlike anything she had ever experienced before. They all seemed to vivid to be just dreams. It was odd and wrecking havoc with her life, as now Tip was constantly in a state of exhaustion which is how she found herself being dragged along the woods by Henry.

This whole thing was probably a bad idea but Henry seemed so excited by all of this that Tip didn't have it in her heart to tell him not, besides she was certain that on the chance that she had said no to his request, he would have made his way to the woods by himself. The last thing Tip needed was Henry getting himself lost in the woods especially since it was already getting late and the sun had already set, at least if she was with him then there would be nothing to worry about as Tip knew these woods like the back of her hand.

There was something about all this greenery that Tip adored, she felt so comfortable being out here away from what little noise came from town and just being surrounded by the vast amount of trees and shrubbery. There was something very cathartic about being here and for Tip, this little walk through the woods with Henry was helping to lift her tired and dreary mood. The fresh earth scent in the air was doing wonders for Tip and she was feeling a lot better about herself than she had done in weeks. She had always found the woods to be a good place to come and clear her head

"I do hope you know Henry that your mother is going to kill us when she finds out that we're out here and by us, I do hope that you realise I mean me. I'm the adult here and yet I always find myself willingly going along with whatever it is you want us to do." Tip stated, feeling the need to yet again let Henry knew that this wasn't the best thing to be doing considering that Regina was still on the warpath about Emma Swan being in town. If anything the two of them should be trying to placate the Mayor and try and minimise the damage that seemed to come, but Master Mills seemed to be content in pushing his adoptive mother's buttons further. Tip knew she shouldn't be condoning any of this behaviour in the slightest but yet, there was only good intentions in Henry's heart as he wanted to find this missing man. Not to mention it was a tiny but amusing to Henry taking such an open defiance of his mother's instructions, it seemed to be bringing out some new found confidence in the boy and Tip couldn't' remember the last time Henry had been so happy and enthusiastic about something. "Tip, you don't need to be worrying about my mom as you're Princess Ozma! You've never been afraid to stand up for what's right and wrong regardless of who stands in your way. Even the Evil Queen." Henry retorted and Tip let out a small smile as she continued to led them through the woods using a flashlight to help them see where they were going, this Ozma character sounded a lot braver than she was.

"So tell me more about this Ozma… Is she the best of them all?

"I told you already Tip! You were born half human and half fairy, your father was the King of Oz and your mother was a Fairy Queen from another land. They named you Ozma and you were beloved by the whole of Oz as you were to be rule over them for forever when you came of age. But before your first birthday this evil witch kidnapped you and turned you into a boy called Tippetarius, so no one would know who you really were. That's your name here in Storybrooke is once again Tip because you don't know who you really are again! Back in the fairy tale world, you were raised as Tip until you were rescued, turned back into a girl and found out that you were Princess Ozma. You returned to Oz to become queen and rule over Oz forever. Your parents were gone by then but you were a good queen, a kind one who couldn't ignore any one in trouble which is why Snow White and Prince Charming knew they could come to you for help about this curse."

"I don't really seem like the princess of queen type Henry, I'm more jeans and a waterproof jacket type of person than ballgowns and tiaras. If you know what I mean…" Tip wearily retorted as she motioned to her outfit that consisted of a mud splattered green anorak, dark jeans and black wellington boats. Along with a nice sweater and perhaps canvas trainers, this was pretty much Tip's every day go to outfit, she never wore dressed and it was rare for her to wear any jewellery baring two little studs in her ears. There was this pendant that she used to wear, this green emerald that hung off a chain but she kept locked away and had done for many years. All of this was further proof that Tip was no princess just some ordinary and boring plain jane. Of course, most little girls would dream of being a princess but Tip had never been like that. She had never really known what she had wanted to do with her life, she had never had her own dreams or aspirations. Everything that she had in this life had either been given to her or fallen into her lap.

"Any person can wear a crown Tip, but it's not the crown that makes the queen!" Henry adamantly stated and Tip couldn't help but place one hand over her heart. She didn't know why Henry had imagined her to be this princess queen but she couldn't deny that she wished she could see herself, the way in which he himself saw her.

"How wise you are Henry, for someone so young… I wish I could be more like you."

"Now come along Tip!" Henry chimed, continuing to pull Tip alongside with and she continued to go with the young Mr. Mills rather willingly.

It was getting darker with every passing minute and Tip's mind couldn't help but wonder about the lost soul who they were looking for as her and Henry continued to make their way through the woods. It seemed strange that this mysterious John Doe character would end up here especially after being in a coma for so long, Tip tried to make heads or tails of it but she soon realised that she wouldn't know what she would do in that situation. She couldn't really imagine waking up after so long and not knowing anything about herself not even her name. A person's name was pretty much made them who they were. It was a special thing. To hear someone calling to you by the name you were given was kind of remarkable even for someone with a name like Tippetarius L. Oswin. She couldn't imagine not being able to recall own her name, even with a name that was quite the moth for like hers. Tippetarius was who she was, even though Tip preferred to be called Tip. How lost and lonely John Doe must be feeling, Tip couldn't help but think to herself.

Although she was dragged out of her thoughts rather abruptly by Henry pulling her down a short hill and being caught so off guard by this, Tip was barely able to keep her footing by the time the two of them had reached level ground.

"Henry! Tip?"

Tip looked in the direction in which she heard her name coming from and to her surprise she saw Mary Margaret Blanchard. Tip knew the fair skinned and dark haired woman well enough to call the local elementary school teacher a close and one of her few trusted friends. Tip had known Mary Margaret for as long as she could remember and she could honestly say without any hint of irony or sarcasm that her friend was as sweet as apple pie, possibly even sweeter. Tip was surprised to see her dark haired friend out here as this wasn't exactly the kind of place that she would look to find Mary Margaret. This was a new one indeed and it wasn't just Mary Margaret's surprising appearance that took Tip off guard as there was somebody else with her, two people in fact and one of them happened to be the Sheriff, who Tip was already good terms with but the other person? She was woman that Tip hadn't had the pleasure of formally meeting yet but had managed to see her briefly in person and more recently in print. Tip would recognize the blonde hair woman instantly as it was her arrival in town only a few days ago that had shaken things up considerable and rattled Regina's cage so fiercely that the whole of Storybrooke was still quaking. It was Emma Swan; Henry Mills biological mother.

"Mary Margaret, as ever it is good to see you." Tip warmly greeted with a friendly smile, she should have known that her friend would be out here helping as the lovely Ms. Blanchard was the kind of person who would help you with anything. Tip's attention soon turned over the blonde haired woman who she had been looking forward to formally meeting ever since she arrived. Tip had been wanting to shake the hand of the woman who was causing Regina so much trouble and making things here a little more interesting. Whilst Tip loved Storybrooke, there was nowhere else where she would ever want to live, she would be the first to admit that not much tended to happen here and as such things did tend to get a little bit repetitive and occasionally boring. "It's Emma, right? Your Henry's biological mother… I've heard a lot about you, most of it from the paper although I did take it with a pinch of salt as Sidney Glass isn't exactly known for his objectivity. I'm Tippetarius by the way, Tippetarius Oswin."

"Tippetarius Oswin?" Emma questioned, her eyebrows rising to the heavens over hearing such a bizarre name and Tip couldn't but laugh, that kind of reaction was some thing she was very much she used to. Her name was very unusual.

"A bit of a mouthful I know, but what can I do about it? Everyone calls me Tip though, it's much easier to get your head around!" Tip explained with a small shrug of her shoulders before Henry set about asking whether or not the group had found the missing John Doe before they had arrived.

"Not everybody."

Tip couldn't help but grimace as she knew that voice tinged with an Irish accent very well. She should have know that Graham wouldn't have kept his pretty boy mouth shut when the subject of her name came up. Sheriff Graham Humbert. The tall, dark and roguishly handsome man refused to call Tip by her nickname, when he did use her name he always Tippetarius because it was the name she was given at birth. It drove Tip insane which only encouraged Graham further. Tip couldn't help but idly roll her eyes as Graham sauntered up to with this all knowing look in his eyes and an arrogant smirk in the corner of his mouth. She adored him of course, Graham was perhaps the only person who knew her as best as anyone could but that didn't mean things between them were quite so simple. "Indeed, only Sheriff Humbert and Mayor Mills call by my full name. Other than one other person in town, I am known as Tip to most."

"So you're here to help us find our John Doe? That's awfully nice of you Tippetarius but I've got it covered."

"Are you sure about that Sheriff? I'm pretty sure that if I left it up to you then this poor soul will never be found!" Tip retorted without skipping a beat before proceeding to brush past Graham in order to carry on the search. It was getting later by the second and it was better for them all if they found John Doe sooner rather than later. The woods here in Storybrooke were no national park but the land was vast and you were fully capable of getting lost if you didn't know where you were going. Even though Tip practically knew her way around the woods, it was Graham who knew the terrain better than anyone else in Storybrooke. He could probably find a needle stuck somewhere in the woods given how much time he spent here. However that didn't mean that Tip didn't know what she was doing and with her flashlight in her hand, she was determined to prove her worth to the Sheriff.

However, as well intentioned that Tip was, her ego had got in the way and due to her somewhat god awful lack of co-ordination she tripped over her own feet and took a rather ungraceful fall into the dirt. Tip let out a groan as she rolled onto her back as her day was going from bad to worse, she didn't know what the hell was going on with her at the moment. She was of no real use to anyone if she could barely walk five feet without almost tripping up and taking somebody with her. Tip could balance the books for the entire town and just walking in a straight line was a challenge for her.

"Christ! How can someone so beautiful be so clumsy?" Graham questioned as he helped Tip to her feet. So quickly did Tip feel herself get flustered and she had to force herself to look away from the Sheriff and it wasn't because of the fall she had taken in front of him. No, it was to hide the hideous blush that was on her have because he had called her beautiful. Nobody had ever said she was beautiful before and even though the compliment had been through in with a comment about her poor co-ordination, it was still something nice to hear. Especially from Graham. To him calling her beautiful left Tip with this funny feeling in the pit of her stomach which made her feel uncharacteristically shy. She really couldn't describe how Graham calling her beautiful made her feel. "Look at the state of your hands! You have scrapes all over! How many times have you fallen over today Tippetatrius? Because your hands are a mess…"

"Maybe twice…" Tip vaguely replied, despite knowing that in itself was a full blown lie as she had tripped over about twenty times today. She had been a certified klutz for as long as she could remember as she never seemed to be paying attention to where she was walking.

"Apparently not, given the state of your hands… For some reason Tippetarius you seem to be more accident prone that usual today, so you are sticking with me so I can keep an eye on you, whether or not you like it."

Tip was surprised when Graham took her hand, linking his fingers with hers but she couldn't bring herself to say anything as she was afraid that her words would fail her, that her reaction would give away how she was feeling. Already she was blushing because he had called her beautiful and now he was holding her hand. Uncertainty clawed at Tip's stomach as she wasn't sure what this meant, her and Graham were friends, always had been. But there were times that Tip wasn't certain that her feelings towards the Sheriff were just the feelings you had towards a friend, however those kind of feelings were the ones that Tip kept buried where no one could find the,

Such as now.

This wasn't about Tip or her feelings towards the man currently holding her hand, this was about the man who had gone missing from the hospital. He had nobody, given that they didn't know his name, it meant that his family probably were unaware that he had been in Storybrooke all time, Tip had to focus on that. They all head to focus on that and resuming the search, the small group continued to search the terrain for any clues as to where John Doe would have gone. Dear little Henry was certain that John Doe was looking for Mary Margaret as her reading his book managed to wake him up. This was all due to this dark curse.

Tip wasn't sure what to think. As much as she was focused on John Doe, she couldn't help but think if the roles were reversed would there be people looking for her? None of them knew anything about this man and yet there were all looking for him. Tip was sort of jealous as she didn't think any one would do that for her. Or even notice that she was missing. Tip had no family, no real dependants and she lived alone in a house that was located at the edge of the woods. If something happened to her, no one would know.

"So what's the story with this John Doe character? Do we know anything about him?" Tip found herself asking despite knowing full well that it was a redundant question. How could they know anything about a man with no name who had been in a coma for god knows how long?

"Apart from him suddenly waking up and absconding from the hospital? Not a clue Tippetarius, nobody knows a single thing about him but apparently Regina found him unconscious by the side of the road years ago and she brought him. The guy's been in a coma ever since then, Dr Whale has no idea who John Doe is or what kind of accident he got in that caused the coma. All I know about John Doe is that he seems to share your enthusiasm for suddenly taking off." Graham commented and Tip just pursed her lips in response as this was all a bit weird as she couldn't' recall ever hearing about some guy being found in the middle of the road ever appearing in the newspaper. Surely something like that would have appeared in the papers especially since nobody knew who he was. Running a story on the man could have possible brought some information to light about his accident and more importantly his identity as he had to have a name, everyone had a name. John/Jane Doe was just something that was idly handed out to people when there was no way of identifying them. All this uneasy about John Doe was making Tip feel more unsettled about herself and how empty her life seemed to be. She could very much easily be the one in John Doe's shoes. It scared her more than she would have liked it to and she could feel the anxiety of it all clawing at her stomach.

"We have no such thing in common! It's not like I took off, all I did was turn my phones off and stay home for a couple of days. I didn't pull some kind of disappearing act or pull some kind of Houdini act, I just decided to go off the grid for a few days and take some personal time for myself. I needed to get somethings in order and take a small break from work. You've seen my office G, it's a miracle that I can get any work done as I seem to have paperwork coming out of ears and the seams of my home…" Tip retorted as whilst she knew that she was prone to going off the grid ever so often, it's not like she just waltzed off into thin air, not telling anyone where she was going. Tip never went far, she was always in come vicinity in Storybrooke although most times out of none, you could find Tip at home reading some kind of obscure book in her living room.

"You're not getting any sympathy from me on this one, it's not like you need to work like the rest of us. You just chose to work princess." Graham quipped as he went from studying the ground, no doubt for tread marks to looking for any kind of disturbances in the foliage whilst keeping a firm grip on Tip's hand. Tip had no idea what Graham was looking for but she knew that he knew what he was doing. All the jokes that Tip made about Graham and his job aside, he was pretty damn good at his job and Tip trusted him wholeheartedly. Although Tip could do without the never ending princess nickname rearing it's end rather frequently.

"Princess?" Emma questioned referring to Tip's nickname and Graham quietly laughed in amusement whilst Tip just rolled her eyes. This whole princess thing was relentless and never ending, it seemed to bring Graham countless joy using that annoying name whenever he wanted, knowing full well that it drove Tip up the wall.

"As you can see it's my own personal nickname for the ever lovely Miss Oswin as I always thought there was something noble about her eyes, I'm convinced that she was royalty in a past life. But for the most part the nickname reflects wealth and status here in Storybrooke."

"Ignore him." Tip quietly muttered as she went about kicking a rock with her wellington boot, she hated all discussions about money which was ironic given that she was an accountant. Well, Tip hated talking about her own money as it made things awkward and just talking about money in general was a tricky subject.

"Am I missing something here?" Emma questioned and Tip just awkwardly looked away and decided to look at a really odd looking tree that was in the distance. If they really wanted to talk about this then they could do whatever they wanted, Tip just couldn't hang around and get involved in the conversation. She knew better than anyone that money was everything, it didn't solve any of Tip problems and it didn't make her any happier and it most certainly didn't ease any of her loneliness and long nights. She never asked for any of this, Tip knew that she sounded like a spoilt and ungrateful brat just thinking this but it was the truth. This was the life she was born into and just walking away wasn't that simple. People here depended on her, Tip owned buildings that countless people lived in, she owned the buildings that were used for most of the businesses here. These were people's livelihoods and they counted on her to keep them going. If Tip sold up there was a good chance that Mr. Gold would sweep in and take it all and who knew what he would do. Tip held a lot of responsibility here and whilst she often wished that she didn't have the money that she did, this was her reality and she had to live with it.

"Whilst Mr. Gold like to act like he owns the whole of Storybrooke, in reality he only owns half of town. The other half of town that Mr. Gold doesn't own is owned by the lovely Tip." Mary Margaret kindly explained and Tip pursed her lips together and frowned. If they didn't find John Doe soon then it was going to be an incredibly cold and long night searching for this missing man.

"Yet she chooses to live by the woods instead of one the many properties she owns." Graham added and Tip just scowled at him as he wasn't making things any better.

"Wait just one second… Tip you own half the town yet you chose to live in little house by the woods?" Emma questioned asking the exact question that Tip knew that was inevitable ever since this talk about her wealth had cropped up. It was a bit of a surprise that someone with Tip sizeable wealth lived in such a small but rather cosy house at the outskirts of town and right by the wood instead of one of the significantly much larger houses in town. But that wasn't Tip. She couldn't live in town, it wasn't her at all. Tip was a very lonely person, she had always been by herself and her home situation seemed to reflect that perfectly. Her days and nights were rather lonely, quite often hunched over her desk or some other table doing work. Living out here by the woods was a source of comfort for Tip, she loved the smell of woodlands especially on cold and wet morning and then there was something about all the greenery. From the dark green with a hint of yellow that was the moss of the floor to the emerald green pine trees, it brought this comfort to Tip that she couldn't quite describe. It was almost homely.

"Yeah it doesn't make sense but then you can never win with the princess." Graham quipped with a small laugh.

"It's not about winning!" Tip angrily retorted, she couldn't help herself as she was stuck in her own head, fixating about being alone and having nobody in her life. It seemed to be eating her up from the inside.

"Then what is it about?" Graham quietly asked and as Tip looked into his eyes, his green eyes that reminded her so much of the green moss of the forest she felt herself get lost in a moment. Like nothing else mattered and that the two of them were the only ones here but that wasn't the case. They were here for a reason and they needed to remember that and stop getting distracted. There was a man missing here. A man all alone and in desperate need of their help.

"Nothing, just forget I said anything at all." Tip quietly said before tugging her hand out of Graham's grasp and walking off using her flashlight to guide her and look for any signs that John Doe had come in this direction. They had found his hospital wrist band covered in blood which didn't bode well. All Tip wanted to go back home and hide but Tip knew that she couldn't do that. As much as she had just overreacted to the whole money thing, John Doe needed them and she couldn't go home knowing that some poor man could be hurt and was in need of her help. She didn't get too far as something reached out and grabbed her hand, Tip knew without looking that it was Graham as rom holding his hand less than a minute or so again, his touch had already been ingrained in her heart. She would know his hand anywhere now. Tip would remember the electricity that it sent up fingers and down her spine.

"Something is bothering you. Tell me what it is." Graham softly questioned and Tip kept her head forward, she didn't want him to see her like this, when her head was all over the place and she was feeling so unsure of herself.

"No."

"Tippetarius talk to me, please."

She wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was how adamant Graham was about finding out was wrong with her or perhaps it was how gentle he was being. But all Tip knew was that her feet were slowly turning around to face him. Tip couldn't bring herself to face him, she was certain that he was going to laugh about how silly she was being. That much Tip was convinced off and she couldn't bare to see him laughing at her about something that was chewing her up inside. "I can't help thinking about how similar I am to John Doe, sure there are some obvious differences between us, like I know my own name but just like him I am completely alone. I have no family, I have no one who really needs me and I can't help but wonder… If anyone would come looking for me, if I ended up in a situation like this.

Tip waited for the laughter to come but it didn't. There was no laughing on Graham's part, instead he pulled her off to the side by two trees, just out of sight of Henry, Mary Margaret and Emma. She was rather surprised when she felt two hands, or rather Graham's on the side of her face and these two hands gently tilted her face up to make her to look at him. Tip felt uneasy as she looked at Graham, unable to look away from the green eyes that seemed to be looking straight into her soul, trying to unearth all of her darkest secrets. He looked at her with a steady gaze, concern shinning through despite the darkness. Tip could feel his warm breath tickle her throat and she was at a loss of what was going on.

"Do you really think that if something happened to you that no one would care? That no one would come looking for you? You mean so much, to so many of us. Everyone here in Storybrooke cares for you Tippetarius, I have always cared for you, If something were to happen to you Tippetarius Oswin, of course I would come looking for you and I wouldn't stop until I found you. I would be waving flashlights, calling your name, I would have dogs out trying to pick up your scent… You are not alone as you think you are." Graham said, his words heavy but delicate and Tip was trying to process everything that the Sheriff had just said to her and yet all her anxiety was slowly slipping away. Somehow with mere words, Graham had eased her discomfort and given Tip hope for the first time in a long time. Just because she didn't have a family, it didn't mean she was alone.

Tip felt a lump get caught in her throat. Now she wanted to cry,

 _"You don't even have a dog."_ Tip found herself saying through a teary laugh which caused Graham to laugh in a good natured manner before leaning forehead and leaning his head against her own.

"Then I'll ask Dr. Hopper if I can borrow Pongo."


End file.
